Livestock womb replacing tool



March 19, 1963 B. ISAAC 3,081,773

LIVESTOCK WOMB REPLACING TOOL Filed Feb. 17. 1960 Boyd Isaac l N VENTOR.

BY ecu W 3M 3,981,773 LIVETOCK WQMB REPLACING TOOL Boyd Isaac, Box 234,Jordan, Mont. Filed Feb. 17, 196i Ser. No. 9,366 Claims. (Cl. 128-303)This invention relates to a novel and useful livestock tool and moreparticularly to a tool which is specifically adapted for replacing wombswhich have been thrown from sheep and the like.

Although the tool of the instant invention has been specifically adaptedfor use with ewes which frequently throw their wombs while giving birthto offspring, it is to be understood that the tool may be constructed ofvarying dimensions and of diiferent materials if it is desired to usethe tool to assist in the replacement of wombs into other animals.

During the lambing season, a ewe will sometimes throw its womb whilegiving birth to offspring and a livestock owner must take care to insurethat the ewes womb is replaced before the lamb incurs injury which couldprevent it from having additional offspring. Heretofore, the womb hasbeen replaced by hand or with the assistance of a tool having anenlarged portion on one end of the handle which is adapted to beinserted into the womb after which the womb may then be replaced withinthe ewe by means of the handle. However, inasmuch as the womb hascontracted a substan tial amount as a result of the ewe having givenbirth to offspring, the womb has a tendency to fold or crease and it isextremely difficult to replace the womb within a ewe in a manner whichwill insure that the creases and folds will not cause complications andmake it impossible for the ewe to give birth to additional offspring.

The tool of the instant invention is provided with a resilient insert inthe form of an enlargement on one end of a handle which is adapted to beplaced within a thrown womb prior to replacing the womb within the ewe.The resilient insert is surrounded by an expander which is not unlike aconventional rubber balloon and the handle on which the insert issecured is hollow having its interior in communication with the interiorof the expander. The end of the handle remote from the insert and theexpander is provided with a means for supplying compressed air to theinterior of the handle so that the expander may be expanded after thewomb has been replaced within the lamb. It is to be understood that theexpander shall be capable of expanding the womb to any size which isnecessary to remove any Wrinkles or folds. The expander serves a dualfunction and, in addition to affording a means for expanding the wombafter it has been replaced within the ewe, it provides a means forfacilitating the removal of the insert from within the womb, as will behereinafter more fully set forth.

The main object of this invention is to provide a tool for replacing athrown womb within a ewe whereby the womb will be positioned insubstantially the correct position within the animal and will be freefrom any creases or folds which could possibly cause complications andrender it impossible for the lamb to give birth to further offspring.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tool which will besimple to operate in the process of replacing a thrown womb.

A final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a toolwhich will be of simple construction and which will conform to theconventional forms of manufacture so as to provide a device that will bedurable and economically feasible.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details ice of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FEGURE 1 is a perspective View of the womb replac ing tool showing theexpander in a collapsed state;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on somewhat of anenlarged scale taken substantially along the longitudinal center line ofthe tool; and

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the tool with the expander, theinsert and a portion of the handle being shown in dotted lines andinserted within a ewe during the process of replacing the womb of theewe.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates the livestock Womb replacing tool comprising thepresent invention which is shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawings insertedWithin a ewe 12 to replace the womb (not shown) of the latter.

The tool 10 includes a handle 14 which is tubular and has a resilientinsert 16 secured to one end thereof. The resilient insert issubstantially spherical although slight variations of shape may beutilized and the insert 16 is provided with a diametrically extendingbore 18 in which one end of the hollow handle 14 is secured.

A resilient expander 20 has a neck portion 21 secured about the insert16 and to the handle 14 by means of a clamp 22. It will be notedtherefore that the interior of the handle 14 is in communication withthe space between the expander 20 and the insert 16 so that whenincreased air pressure is supplied to the interior of the handle 14 theexpander 2d will be expanded as shown by the phantom lines 24 in FIGURE2.

A valve mechanism generally referred to by the reference numeral 26 issecured to the end of the handle 14 remote from the insert 16 by anyconvenient means and is provided with a release valve 28 of anyconvenient construction for releasing the air pressure within the handle14 and the expander 20.

The valve mechanism 26 is provided with an outlet opening 30 in whichthe adjacent end of the handle '14 is secured and an inlet opening 32 inwhich there is disposed a check valve element 3-4- for restricting thepassage of air out of the inlet passage 32 and into the hand pumpgenerally designated by the reference numeral 36. The hand pump 36 isprovided with an dutlet opening 38 which is in communication with theinterior of the valve mechanism 26 by means of a connecting conduit 4ft.The hand pump 3'6 is also provided with an inlet opening 42 which isprovided with a check valve element 44 for restricting the passage ofair out of the inlet opening 42.

In operation, the resilient insert 16 and its surrounding expander 2bare first inserted within a thrown womb and then the womb is replacedwithin the ewe 12 in a manner illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings.The valve 23 is closed and the hand pump 36 is operated to increase theair pressure within the handle *14 and between the resilient insert 16and the resilient expander 20. When the expander 20 has been expanded tothe desired size, a slight pull can be effected on the tool 10 topartially withdraw it from within the ewe 12 as the release valve 23 isopened slightly to slowly reduce the air pressure within the expander20. Inasmuch as the womb (not shown) is expanded, it will resistwithdrawal from within the lamb 12 and as the tool 10 is withdrawn fromthe ewe 12 the resilient expander 20 will yield under slight pressure toenable the insert 16 to be withdrawn from the womb while the expander isstill in an expanded state because of the resilient expander 20. That isto say, the insert 16 is withdrawn from the womb first while theexpander 20 is still in an expanded state whereupon the contraction ofthe expander 20 may then be elfected and the tool may be removed fromthe ewe 12 without effecting the removal of the ewes womb.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

'1. A livestock womb replacing tool for replacing thrown wombs, saidtool comprising an elongated handle, an insert adapted to be receivedwithin a thrown womb, means fixedly securing said insert to one end ofsaid handle, said insert being diametrically enlarged relative to saidhandle and having a smooth external surface throughout the entire extentthereof, an expander enclosing said insert for expanding the womb afterthe latter has been replaced within an animal, means connected to theother end of said handle for expanding and contracting said expanderrelative to said insert, said expander including means for snuglyembracing said insert and for conforming to the smooth external surfaceof said insert when said expander is contracted to permit the insertionof said expander into said womb in an uncrinkled condition and adaptedto conform to the internal shape of a womb when expanded.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said expander is resilient, meanscommunicating said expanding means with the interior of said expander,said expander means including means for compressing air and forreleasing air contained within said expander, said handle being hollowand comprising said communicating means, said compressing meanscomprising a hand pump having inlet and outlet openings, a one-way checkvalve disposed in said inlet opening restricting the passage of airoutwardly of said inlet opening, valve means including a one-way checkvalve for restricting air passage through said outlet opening and intosaid pump disposed between the outlet opening of said pump and the otherend of said handle, said valve means also including a release valve forreleasing air pressure within said expander.

3. A livestock Womb replacing tool for replacing thrown wombs, said toolcomprising an elongated handle, a generally spherical insert adapted tobe received within a thrown womb, means fixedly securing said insert toone end of said handle, said insert being diametrically enlargedrelative to said one end of said handle, said insert having a boreformed therethrough, said handle including lon itudinally extendingpassage means opening at one end through said one end of said handle andinto one end of said bore, a generally spherical, flexible and resilientexpander normally snugly embracing said insert and including anoutwardly projecting neck portion through which said one end of saidhandle projects, means securing said neck portion about said handle influid tight sealing engagement therewith, and means carried by the otherend of said handle and communicated with the other end of said passagemeans for inflating said expander and expanding all but the portionsthereof immediately adjacent said neck portion outwardly away from saidinsert.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said inflating means comprises ahand air pump having an outlet communicated with said other end of saidpassage means.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said passage means comprises alongitudinal bore formed in said handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A LIVESTOCK WOMB REPLACING TOOL FOR REPLACING THROWN WOMBS, SAID TOOLCOMPRISING AN ELONGATED HANDLE, AN INSERT ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED WITHINA THROWN WOMB, MEANS FIXEDLY SECURING SAID INSERT TO ONE END OF SAIDHANDLE, SAID INSERT BEING DIAMETRICALLY ENLARGED RELATIVE TO SAID HANDLEAND HAVING A SMOOTH EXTERNAL SURFACE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE EXTENTTHEREOF, AN EXPANDER ENCLOSING SAID INSERT FOR EXPANDING THE WOMB AFTERTHE LATTER HAS BEEN REPLACED WITHIN AN ANIMAL, MEANS CONNECTED TO THEOTHER END OF SAID HANDLE FOR EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING SAID EXPANDERRELATIVE TO SAID INSERT, SAID EXPANDER INCLUDING MEANS FOR SNUGLYEMBRACING SAID INSERT AND FOR CONFORMING TO THE SMOOTH EXTERNAL SURFACEOF SAID INSERT WHEN SAID EXPANDER IS CONTRACTED TO PERMIT THE INSERTIONOF SAID EXPANDER INTO SAID WOMB IN AN UNCRINKLED CONDITION AND ADAPTEDTO CONFORM TO THE INTERNAL SHAPE OF A WOMB WHEN EXPANDED.